Details of the Picture:
Underneath the "Tarzan Chest Wig" advertisement it says "Are you bald chested? Are you afraid to expose your bare chest, Be a real he-man by wearing a tarzan chest wig!" This is a spoof on advertisements in Ballyhoo magazine, a popular magazine in America in the 1930s.
Underneath the Coca Cola girl there is a quote that says "...everything necessary to the Modern Man. A phonograph, a radio, a car, and a frigidaire." - W.H. Auden 'The Unknown Citizen' (1939). 'The Unknown Citizen is a poem.
The bottom left Chinese advertisement is for Shandong Cigarette Co.
The upper right Chinese advertisement is for My Dear cigarettes.
The word "consume" is written in red, white, and blue because being a consumer is linked to being a patriotic citizen. For example, " 'Americans need to go out and spend. That's the message,' said NBC's Tom Brokaw (9/24/01)" (Jackson).
Advertising is a Sustainability Problem
The pervasive investment in and use of advertising is a sustainability issue. Advertisements urge people to be a consumer. The person as the consumer is a new idea but is continually reinforced by commercials and advertisements. According to Swagler the term “consumerism” first appeared in “The New Republic” in 1944. Since then is has collected a negative connotation (Swagler). After the Industrial Revolution the American household experienced a transformation from “a unit of production” to a “unit of consumption” (Hayes 18).
Advertisements are commonplace in magazines, on television, and on-line. Advertisements help pay for the service of distributing information or delivering entertainment. Watching television is America’s top leisure activity and television has been described as “the most important medium for advertisers” (Wilbur, Goaree, Ridder). The importance of the television to advisers is evidenced by the fact that after DVR become popular product placements within shows increased by 40% from 2005-2008 (Wilbur, Goaree, Ridder). Advertisements appeal to evolutionary biases in order to persuade consumers towards a product (Trent). Food advertisements exacerbate the problem of industrial food. Food advertisements aimed at children feature foods high in fat, sugar and salt (according to Smith) and a study of a British children’s programming found that cereal, “confectionary” foods, and “non-carbonated soft drinks” were the most advertised foods. Advertisements influence children and in turn parents are persuaded to purchase advertised foods (Sixsmith, 26).Advertised foods are usually processed and it has been reported that processed food accounts for about 90% of the American diet (Mercola). Local farmers or bakers do not have the money to advertise on television or in magazines and therefore advertising begets power to national and international corporations. Food advertisements also enforce the idea that it is normal to outsource food production from our own kitchens to national factories.
The picture above includes Chinese cigarette advertisements. These advertisements are included to prove the global reach of advertising as well as to give an outside look at the absurd psychological connections advertisers make with their products. In the lower right hand corner is a Shandong Cigarette Co ad that features a happy Chinese family. The husband appears to be a successful business man and although the family is outside they are separated from nature by a tiled floor pavilion. The My Dear cigarette ad features a sexy Chinese woman. It can be easier for a cultural outsider to perceive the delusional messages in advertising. It is interesting to note that many Chinese advertisers are European or American, and even the large Chinese advertisers derived their advertising approach from an American education (Morgan 4). Sexiness or a cohesive family does not result from a cigarette purchase just as social acceptance or athletic prowess (a common theme in children’s food advertisements) does not result from a food purchase. The “Housewife’s Syndrome” of the 1960s evidences one effect of delusional and misleading advertising. After the Industrial Revolution and the development of home care products advertisements helped shape the image of a women satisfied by constantly “wielding the credit card to keep the consumer culture humming” (Hayes, 19). The “Housewife’s Syndrome” was the realization that consuming (while husbands were producing) was not satisfying. What made this realization of the hollowness of consuming unique was the ubiquity of images and advertisements normalizing life as a housewife (see **Housewife Advertisements**for examples).
Together medias seeking profit, corporations seeking assurance of sales, and citizens subject to viewing and digesting advertisements create the sustainability problem that is adverting. Today more people will buy a brand new item instead of applying any craftsmanship skills in order to fix the object. A survey of UK residents found that 62% favored replacing their defective possession (“Ethical Consumerism”). One could say that the advertised need of “more” and that “more’ leads to happiness is misleading. More obviously, one could say that the happiness and success associated with cigarettes or potato chips in a commercial is misleading. The participation of two other stakeholders, the Federal Trade Commission and the federal court system, further complicates the sustainability issue of advertising. The Lanham Trademark Act is enforced by the FTC, but the federal court system has at least four different ways of interpreting the act. For example, one group of courts has interprets the Lanham Act as saying that “the plaintiffmust be in actual or direct competition in order to pursue a deceptive advertising claim” (Bird, 5). The legal complications and differing viewpoints across the nation concerning who is allowed to pursue a false advertising claim is a complex issue in itself.
To eliminate waste, reduce the power of multinational corporations, and engage in a lifestyle conducive to environmental and community health, I prefer reanalyzing the transformation of a household from a “unit of production” to a “unit of consumption.” There are many other sustainability problems that have affected this transformation, but in order to transform to a more productive household, or at least a less consumptive one, one must realize that many needs are imagined and encouraged by advertising, and the conception of the citizen as a consumer is not immutable .
Bird, Robert C., The Impact of Legal Standing Rules on Deceptive and Legitimate Advertising Activity (April 1, 2008). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1123676
Chamberlain, Craig. "Advertising and its methods put 'on trial' in the 1930s, author says." News Bureau, Illinois. University of Illinois, 26 June 2006. Web. 22 Mar 2010. <http://news.illinois.edu/news/06/0626advertising.html>.
Ethical Consumerism: Lacking in green conviction. (2007, September). Marketing Week,28. Retrieved March 19, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1335546391).
Hayes, Shannon. "Local Idea: Radical Homemaker." Ecolocal Living Spring 2010: 18-20. Print.
Morgan, Stephen L., Selling Chinese Dreams: Fashion, Culture and Discourse in Advertising in China between the Two World Wars (June 12, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1524855
Smith, Trenton G., The McDonald's Equilibrium: Advertising, Empty Calories, and the Endogenous Determination of Dietary Preferences. Social Choice and Welfare, Vol. 23, pp. 383-413, 2004. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=501122
Swagler, Roger. "Evolution and applications of the term consumerism: Theme and variations." Journal of Consumer Affairs. 28.2 (1994): 147-360. Web.
Wilbur, Kenneth, Michelle Goeree, and Geert Ridder. "Effects of Advertising and Product Placement on Television Audiences." USC Marshall, Marshall Research Paper Series Working Paper MKT 09-09. (April 2009): 1-42. Print.
Details of the Picture:
Underneath the "Tarzan Chest Wig" advertisement it says "Are you bald chested? Are you afraid to expose your bare chest, Be a real he-man by wearing a tarzan chest wig!" This is a spoof on advertisements in Ballyhoo magazine, a popular magazine in America in the 1930s.
Underneath the Coca Cola girl there is a quote that says "...everything necessary to the Modern Man. A phonograph, a radio, a car, and a frigidaire." - W.H. Auden 'The Unknown Citizen' (1939). 'The Unknown Citizen is a poem.
The bottom left Chinese advertisement is for Shandong Cigarette Co.
The upper right Chinese advertisement is for My Dear cigarettes.
The word "consume" is written in red, white, and blue because being a consumer is linked to being a patriotic citizen. For example, " 'Americans need to go out and spend. That's the message,' said NBC's Tom Brokaw (9/24/01)" (Jackson).
Advertising is a Sustainability Problem
The pervasive investment in and use of advertising is a sustainability issue. Advertisements urge people to be a consumer. The person as the consumer is a new idea but is continually reinforced by commercials and advertisements. According to Swagler the term “consumerism” first appeared in “The New Republic” in 1944. Since then is has collected a negative connotation (Swagler). After the Industrial Revolution the American household experienced a transformation from “a unit of production” to a “unit of consumption” (Hayes 18).
Advertisements are commonplace in magazines, on television, and on-line. Advertisements help pay for the service of distributing information or delivering entertainment. Watching television is America’s top leisure activity and television has been described as “the most important medium for advertisers” (Wilbur, Goaree, Ridder). The importance of the television to advisers is evidenced by the fact that after DVR become popular product placements within shows increased by 40% from 2005-2008 (Wilbur, Goaree, Ridder). Advertisements appeal to evolutionary biases in order to persuade consumers towards a product (Trent). Food advertisements exacerbate the problem of industrial food. Food advertisements aimed at children feature foods high in fat, sugar and salt (according to Smith) and a study of a British children’s programming found that cereal, “confectionary” foods, and “non-carbonated soft drinks” were the most advertised foods. Advertisements influence children and in turn parents are persuaded to purchase advertised foods (Sixsmith, 26). Advertised foods are usually processed and it has been reported that processed food accounts for about 90% of the American diet (Mercola). Local farmers or bakers do not have the money to advertise on television or in magazines and therefore advertising begets power to national and international corporations. Food advertisements also enforce the idea that it is normal to outsource food production from our own kitchens to national factories.
The picture above includes Chinese cigarette advertisements. These advertisements are included to prove the global reach of advertising as well as to give an outside look at the absurd psychological connections advertisers make with their products. In the lower right hand corner is a Shandong Cigarette Co ad that features a happy Chinese family. The husband appears to be a successful business man and although the family is outside they are separated from nature by a tiled floor pavilion. The My Dear cigarette ad features a sexy Chinese woman. It can be easier for a cultural outsider to perceive the delusional messages in advertising. It is interesting to note that many Chinese advertisers are European or American, and even the large Chinese advertisers derived their advertising approach from an American education (Morgan 4). Sexiness or a cohesive family does not result from a cigarette purchase just as social acceptance or athletic prowess (a common theme in children’s food advertisements) does not result from a food purchase. The “Housewife’s Syndrome” of the 1960s evidences one effect of delusional and misleading advertising. After the Industrial Revolution and the development of home care products advertisements helped shape the image of a women satisfied by constantly “wielding the credit card to keep the consumer culture humming” (Hayes, 19). The “Housewife’s Syndrome” was the realization that consuming (while husbands were producing) was not satisfying. What made this realization of the hollowness of consuming unique was the ubiquity of images and advertisements normalizing life as a housewife (see **Housewife Advertisements** for examples).
Together medias seeking profit, corporations seeking assurance of sales, and citizens subject to viewing and digesting advertisements create the sustainability problem that is adverting. Today more people will buy a brand new item instead of applying any craftsmanship skills in order to fix the object. A survey of UK residents found that 62% favored replacing their defective possession (“Ethical Consumerism”). One could say that the advertised need of “more” and that “more’ leads to happiness is misleading. More obviously, one could say that the happiness and success associated with cigarettes or potato chips in a commercial is misleading. The participation of two other stakeholders, the Federal Trade Commission and the federal court system, further complicates the sustainability issue of advertising. The Lanham Trademark Act is enforced by the FTC, but the federal court system has at least four different ways of interpreting the act. For example, one group of courts has interprets the Lanham Act as saying that “the plaintiff must be in actual or direct competition in order to pursue a deceptive advertising claim” (Bird, 5). The legal complications and differing viewpoints across the nation concerning who is allowed to pursue a false advertising claim is a complex issue in itself.
To eliminate waste, reduce the power of multinational corporations, and engage in a lifestyle conducive to environmental and community health, I prefer reanalyzing the transformation of a household from a “unit of production” to a “unit of consumption.” There are many other sustainability problems that have affected this transformation, but in order to transform to a more productive household, or at least a less consumptive one, one must realize that many needs are imagined and encouraged by advertising, and the conception of the citizen as a consumer is not immutable .
**Cereal Advertising**
References:
Bird, Robert C., The Impact of Legal Standing Rules on Deceptive and Legitimate Advertising Activity (April 1, 2008). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1123676
Chamberlain, Craig. "Advertising and its methods put 'on trial' in the 1930s, author says." News Bureau, Illinois. University of Illinois, 26 June 2006. Web. 22 Mar 2010. <http://news.illinois.edu/news/06/0626advertising.html>.
Ethical Consumerism: Lacking in green conviction. (2007, September). Marketing Week,28. Retrieved March 19, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1335546391).
Hayes, Shannon. "Local Idea: Radical Homemaker." Ecolocal Living Spring 2010: 18-20. Print.
Jackson, Janine. "Patriotic Shopping." Fair. Fair, Nov.Dec 2001. Web. 22 Mar 2010. <http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1088>.
Mercola, Joseph. "Why Do People Really Get Sick?." FoodConsumer. N.p., 13 Feb 2010. Web. 20 Mar 2010. http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Opinion/people_really_get_sick_1302100559.html.
Morgan, Stephen L., Selling Chinese Dreams: Fashion, Culture and Discourse in Advertising in China between the Two World Wars (June 12, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1524855
Smith, Trenton G., The McDonald's Equilibrium: Advertising, Empty Calories, and the Endogenous Determination of Dietary Preferences. Social Choice and Welfare, Vol. 23, pp. 383-413, 2004. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=501122
Swagler, Roger. "Evolution and applications of the term consumerism: Theme and variations." Journal of Consumer Affairs. 28.2 (1994): 147-360. Web.
Wilbur, Kenneth, Michelle Goeree, and Geert Ridder. "Effects of Advertising and Product Placement on Television Audiences." USC Marshall, Marshall Research Paper Series Working Paper MKT 09-09. (April 2009): 1-42. Print.
Sources for Pictures:
Television
http://talkinstuff.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/television.jpg
Magazines
http://shanegfowler.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/worldwide-preferred-publishers-magazine-scam.jpg
Tarzan man
"BallyHoo Magazine 1930's Men's Magazine with many Parody Ads." Magazine Wackys. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar 2010. <http://www.lostwackys.com/odd-stuff/ballyhoo-magazine.htm>.
Coca Cola Girl and Collage of House Products
"Modern." Adbusters Journal of the Mental Environment. 18.2 (March/April 2010): Print.
Chinese Family and Chinese Woman- Cigarette Advertisements
Morgan, Stephen L., Selling Chinese Dreams: Fashion, Culture and Discourse in Advertising in China between the Two World Wars (June 12, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1524855